Review article
IS THERE ALTERNATIVE TO PARENTERAL OR NEURAXIAL ANALGESIA FOR LABOR AND DELIVERY?
IVONA BRKIĆ
; Sveti Duh University Hospital, Department of Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Intensive Care Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
TINO KLANCIR
; Sveti Duh University Hospital, Department of Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Intensive Care Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
IVAN ŠKLEBAR
; Sveti Duh University Hospital, Department of Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Intensive Care Medicine, Zagreb and Croatian Catholic University, Osijek School of Medicine, Bjelovar High Technical School, Bjelovar, Croatia
Abstract
Women describe labor pain as the most severe pain they have experienced in their lives. Labor pain is usually treated with neuraxial analgesia or parenteral drugs. However, since these methods may have severe side effects on both the mother and the child, there is a growing interest in treating the pain with other pharmacological and nonpharmacological analgesic methods. Less frequently used methods such as inhalation of nitrous oxide with oxygen or pudendal nerve blockade are also effective and useful, especially in pregnant women who have a contraindication or refuse neuraxial analgesia. The growing interest in more natural labor has resulted in researching and introducing a range of nonpharmacological methods of labor analgesia such as acupuncture or acupressure, hypnosis, transcutaneous electrostimulation, water or ball delivery, audiotherapy, and others. Nonpharmacological analgesic methods do not achieve complete elimination of pain; instead, pain is alleviated using different psychological and mechanical stimuli. Nonpharmacological and less frequently used pharmacological methods of pain relief have shown different levels of effectiveness and, depending on this, they should
have their place in the treatment of labor pain.
Keywords
acupressure; acupuncture; aromatherapy; audiotherapy; birth ball; hypnosis; immersion in water; injections of sterile water; labor pain; nitrous oxide; pudendal block; TENS
Hrčak ID:
193714
URI
Publication date:
15.2.2018.
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